Which states pay tax?

[bullrat]

Excuse this strange newbie question. I'm seriously thinking of dropping Cox, as I've asked them for a couple years when they'll start HDTV in my area -- and the answer is always next year.

I'm comparing DirecTV and Dish and am trying to find out what other monthly costs are involved after the programming costs. With cable all the various little fees and state tax added up to $10 on my $70 package.

I saw this post (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14884) which included an image of the invoice and the tax column was $0. So is tax excluded from satelite TV as online purchases generally are? Do you only pay tax in the state where DirecTV or Dish is headquartered or what? I couldn't find anything on the DTV or Dish websites. Thanks.

-bullrat

[bills976]

Over at TivoCommunity, one of the dealers (Valueelectronics.com) has drafted a chart which gives the sales tax for all 50 states + DC. Take a look: http://www.valueelectronics.com/DTVtaxtable042503.htm

[bullrat]

Man, that was a fast answer. Thanks much! :D

-bullrat

[MikeP]

That's a great table, but a buddy of mine in Florida told me he pays 13.17% tax on his satellite services!

[bills976]

It depends on the services. For example, I live in NY, which doesn't charge tax on satellite. However I also have a Tivo combo unit, meaning I have a $4.99 tivo feature charge. Since this isn't "satellite" per se, I'm charged sales tax on that $4.99. Also that table might not be fully UTD, however, it's accurate for most people's uses.

[Steve Mehs]

Wow that's a great chart! Kudos to the creator

[Richard King]

a buddy of mine in Florida told me he pays 13.17% tax on his satellite services!Your buddy is correct.

[Ray_Clum]

The big savings is in the lack of franchise fees! Indiana sales tax is 6% which applies to cable and satellite services. However, in Indianapolis, Comcast customers pay an additional 6% franchise fee for the "benefit" of having cable.

[bullrat]

Ack! 13.17% tax on his Florida satellite services?!? I live in Florida too, and that's a much higher percentage than I pay on my cable bill for all those niggling little fees, charges and tax. Bummer (BUT I WANT HDTV anyway, dog-gone-it). No Florida State Income Tax -- but they have a way of bleeding you here that works the same. Anyway, thanks for the info.

-bullrat

[Karl Foster]

We just started paying 6.6% sales tax on Monday. Ugh!

[Jon J]

FWIW...In Tennessee the state tax is indeed 6%...however, the local tax applied in every possible case brings it to over 9%.

[mjh]

Also, FWIW, we pay tax in NC, despite the claims of the above mentioned chart that we don't. I pay 5% tax on any programming (e.g. normal programming packages, PPV & mirroring). But no tax on the DVR service.

[jamieh1]

The chart is not correct, here in NC Ive been paying a satellite tax for several months now. I believe 6%.
I have about $7 extra added to my DTV bill. It sucks. DTV now has channel 246 FIGHT SATELLITE TAXES IN NV,CA,OH,CN.
What the hell, why not add my state as well?!